Refillable container having filling plug improvement



May 5, 1964 w. WALDHERR REFILLABLE CONTAINER HAVING FILLING PLUG IMPROVEMENT Filed Oct. 18, 1961 FIG.4I

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INVENTOR FIGB . WILHELM WALDHERR BY wk Q ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,131,828 REFILLAELE CGNTAHIER HAVING BEIJING PLUG IMPRGVEh ENT Wilhelm Waldherr, Kafertaierstrasse 1&2, Mannheim, Germany Filed Oct. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 145,855 2 (llaims. (Cl. 220-86) The present invention relates to a container which can also be constructed as a tube and is filled with gases, liquids, pastes and the like.

Containers are already known which possess a valve with attached spray head. The filling of the container here takes place through the emptying arrangement with the aid of a filling plug.

In contrast thereto, the present invention consists in that the container possesses a valve-like outlet for the material situated in the container and a separate filling arrangement which is closable by means of a filling plug after the filling operation.

More expediently a nozzle can be drawn into one defining surface of the container, into which nozzle the filling plug can be pushed and pressed.

Due to the fact that in the proposed container the filling plug is not arranged in the spray head or in the screw cap of the tube closure, but at any desired point of the container, the emptying arrangements, that is to say the spray valves or the screw cap etc., can be produced substantially more simply and cheaply. Furthermore irrespective of the manner in which the filling is to take place it is possible always to insert or work in the valves, closures and the like at the same time in the production of the container or tube.

In many cases it will be advantageous to arrange the filling opening in the bottom of the container, but it is equally possible to arrange it in the lid or also in the side Wall.

If a form of embodiment of the invention is used wherein a filling opening provided on the bottom opens into the interior of a bladder which in turn is arranged in the container, the material filled into the container can be expelled without a propellent gas coming into contact with the material. Thus in the case of all those materials where a molecular atomization is not needed at all, it is possible to save the expensive propellent gas, quite apart from the fact that in many cases deterioration of the filling material by the propellent gas can be avoided.

It is also possible for example to fill this bladder with compressed air, which here does not even need to be dried since it comes into contact neither with the material nor with the container or tube as such.

The invention will be further described and illustrated by reference to examples of embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows the elevation of a container in the lid of which there are provided both a filling arrangement and an outlet,

FIGURE 2 shows a container with a filling opening arranged in the bottom, partially in section,

FIGURE 3 shows another embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 4 shows a cross section of the filling plug.

In the drawings there is shown in FIGURE 1 a container 1 wherein an extraction valve or extraction opening is arranged in the lid surface 2, equipped with a controllable valve or a closure 3. At the same time the lid surface 2 possesses a filling opening into which a filling opening plug 4 is pushed. The filling opening plug 4 is shown in the position in which it is situated before the filling of the container 1.

3,131,828 Patented May 5, 1964 In FIGURE 2 there is shown a container 5 which is equipped with a filling assembly 6. In the bottom 7 of the container there is provided a pressed-out ensleeving cap portion 8 where is integral with the inwardly domed bottom wall of the one-piece body of the container and projects downwardly therefrom, into which there is inserted a sleeve 9, for example of synthetic plastic material. 'Ihe sleeve 9 surrounds the filling opening 10 serving to receive a filling plug 11. The filling plug 11 is partly pushed into the opening 10 with channels arranged as shown in cross-section of a cross shape 12 (FIGURE 4).

The container is closed at the top by a valve. The filling of the container takes place through the filling opening 10 provided in the bottom, it being possible for the filling material and the propellant gas to be introduced commonly or one after the other. The filled container is closed by the driving in of the filling plug 11.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a form of embodiment of the container wherein a nozzle 13 has been drawn into the pressed out portion 8 integral with and projecting downwardly from the bottom domed wall of the container, into which nozzle the filling plug 11 can be pushed directly.

The arrangement of an edge 26, drawn inwardly of the nozzle 13 is shown in FIGURE 3.

All the described filling arrangements can equally well be provided in the lid as shown in FIGURE 1 or in the lateral wall of the container but the best mode of execution of the invention places the filling plug in a wall of the container which is opposite to the wall which supports the dispensing valve, as is shown in FIGURE 2, and in the sense that when the container is used, the dispensing end is generally deemed to be at the top of the container, the preferred form will be seen to place the filling valve at the container bottom and the dispensing valve at the container top.

What I claim is:

1. In a refillable elongated container for fluent material formed of a one-piece body having an inwardly domed wall at the filling end thereof, said container having an outlet valve for dispensing the material therein in a wall opposite said inwardly domed wall, that improvement comprising a pressed-out ensleeving cap integral with said inwardly domed wall, said cap projecting downwardly from said wall for encasing and mounting a filling plug therein, said cap being provided with an inner sleeve portion defining an axial bore, a cylindrical onepiece filling plug mounted in said axial bore, said filling plug formed at its inserted upper end in cruciform cross section and being of circular cross section at its lower end whereby channels are provided in the upper portion of the plug for charging fluent material into the interior of the container when the plug is in retracted position, said sleeve portion being provided on its inner surface with a projecting edge serving to lock an edge of the cruciform channel of said plug to maintain the plug in closed position.

2. An improved filling plug combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ensleeving cap is formed on its inner surfaces to constitute the axial bore for said plug.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,868 Adams May 21, 1878 2,908,297 Carlsson Oct. 13, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 879,413 France Nov. 19, 1942 

1. IN A REFILLABLE ELONGATED CONTAINER FOR FLUENT MATERIAL FORMED OF A ONE-PIECE BODY HAVING AN INWARDLY DOMED WALL AT THE FILLING END THEREOF, SAID CONTAINER HAVING AN OUTLET VALVE FOR DISPENSING THE MATERIAL THEREIN IN A WALL OPPOSITE SAID INWARDLY DOMED WALL, THAT IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PRESSED-OUT ENSLEEVING CAP INTEGRAL WITH SAID INWARDLY DOMED WALL, SAID CAP PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID WALL FOR ENCASING AND MOUNTING A FILLING PLUG THEREIN, SAID CAP BEING PROVIDED WITH AN INNER SLEEVE PORTION DEFINING AN AXIAL BORE, A CYLINDRICAL ONEPIECE FILLING PLUG MOUNTED IN SAID AXIAL BORE, SAID FILLING PLUG FORMED AT ITS INSERTED UPPER END IN CRUCIFORM CROSS SECTION AND BEING OF CIRCULAR CROSS SECTION AT ITS LOWER END WHEREBY CHANNELS ARE PROVIDED IN THE UPPER PORTION OF THE PLUG FOR CHARGIN FLUENT MATERIAL INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER WHEN THE PLUG IS IN RETRACTED POSITION, SAID SLEEVE PORTION BEING PROVIDED ON ITS INNER SURFACE WITH A PROJECTING EDGE SERVING TO LOCK AN EDGE OF THE CRUCIFORM CHANNEL OF SAID PLUG TO MAINTAIN THE PLUG IN CLOSED POSITION. 